MUMBAI: Music is the fabric of our society, and music can shape abilities and character. As India adjusts to the new reality of social distancing, musicians and content creators are finding new and innovative ways to engage and entertain their communities. Music creators through various digital mediums are giving their audience a chance to enjoy live music from the comforts of their home.
Renowned singer and musician Nikhil Dsouza who is also part of an online music live concert Lockdown Gigs, is one such artist who is churning out incredible music for his social media audience to enjoy, while they remain sheltered. Here he recommends some of the apps that upcoming artists/budding musicians can use for creating quality audio-video content in order to keep live music thriving, in these times.

FourTrack: The FourTrack multitrack audio recorder app is a songwriting and practice tool for singers, guitar players, piano players and other musicians who want to capture musical ideas and record songs on their iPhone and iPod touch. It is a great app for laying down an idea, then adding to it over time like a multi-track. Which gives it an advantage over the voice memo app that’s native to the iPhone. Only issue is files can only be shared through Dropbox or iTunes to your computer.

DolbyOn: This free app for iOS and Android is designed to easily record and live stream audio and video with superior Dolby sound quality by using just your phone. The app has an exciting live-streaming feature with the best live streaming sound to be heard so far. The Facebook integration in the app allows the artist to stream their music in high definition directly to their Facebook Live The feature can be used easily in the two following ways, first through its indigenous Twitch integration and second through RTMP (real- time messaging protocol) wherein you can live-stream to more platforms like Youtube, Vimeo, etc. Also, it is a great app for recording regular audio or videos, making your phone mic sound like a much more expensive microphone.
GuitarToolkit: It is one of the best guitar-based apps out there. GuitarToolkit delivers all your essential guitar tools—tuner, metronome, chords, scales & arpeggios. Besides having a very accurate tuner and a metronome, it has a scale and chord library, chord search by finger position, and tutorials.

Voice Memos: When travelling, if an idea strikes, this is my go-to app. From inside your head to the phone in seconds so you don’t forget that hit melody and share it easily, after.